Less Fast Food Eaten After Acute Myocardial Infarction

THURSDAY, April 14 (HealthDay News) -- Patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) significantly reduce the amount of fast food they consume six months after AMI, but certain populations still eat fast food on a weekly basis, according to a study published in the April 15 issue of The American Journal of Cardiology.

Adam C. Salisbury, M.D., from Saint Luke's Mid-America Heart and Vascular Institute in Kansas City, Mo., and colleagues investigated patterns of fast food consumption at the time of AMI and six months later in 2,481 patients with AMI from the Translational Research Investigating Underlying Disparities in Acute Myocardial Infarction Patients' Health Status study. They categorized fast food intake as frequent (weekly or more often) or infrequent (less than weekly), and identified patient characteristics correlated with frequent fast food intake six months after AMI.

The investigators found that the proportion of patients consuming fast food decreased significantly from 36 percent at baseline to 20 percent six months after discharge. Frequent fast food intake six months after AMI was correlated independently with male gender, white race, lack of college education, current employment, and dyslipidemia. Frequent fast food intake was less common in older patients and those who underwent coronary bypass surgery. There was no association between documentation of dietary counseling and lower fast food intake at six months.

"Fast food consumption by patients with AMI decreased six months after the index hospitalization, but certain populations, including younger patients, men, those currently working, and less educated patients, were more likely to consume fast food, at least weekly, during follow-up," the authors write.